The Dare, The Date, and The Kiss

"Why would I want to shove my tongue down his throat?" I asked, looking at the redheaded girl in front of me. Lissa Thomas, one of my good friends, was trying to convince me to go kiss some new kid, named… Tooth… or whatever.

It's Fang, Max. You know that.

Fang, okay, whatever! I huffed. Even my subconscious was against me.

She sighed. "Look, you go make out with him, or I will," Lissa said, waving her manicured fingernails around.

I scoffed, flexing my hands, trying not to seem annoyed. "And why is that a threat?"

Lissa smirked, her dimples showing. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. "Come on, Max! He obviously likes you, and you obviously like him ba—"

"I do not like him!" I shouted, interrupting her, and drawing several people by our lunch table to our attention.

Rolling her eyes, Lissa said. "Girl, Fang is one fine catch." We both looked over to where he was sitting.

Okay, so confession time:

Fang was hot. He had a lean, muscled body and a fine, chiseled jaw-line. His nose was slightly crooked in a cute way, and his black hair whooshed over his onyx eyes.

I shook my head, trying to shake that thought away, when Lissa elbowed me. "He's so looking at you," she hissed subtly in my direction. My eyes snapped up towards his, our eyes locking together, before he winked and turned away.

Lissa was looking at me smugly when I turned back to her. "Okay, so maybe he likes me."

"Maybe?!" she all but screeched. "Max! You're hot — nope, close your mouth, we don't need to hear your disagreement; you're gorgeous — and he's hot, so just go over there and make out with him!"

I'm hot… He's hot… Go over and make out? WHAT? I raised an eyebrow at her. "Yo, Lissa, newsflash. That may work on you, but my name sure ain't Lissa Avril Thomas. So, hell to the no, am I doing that."

She scowled at her middle name, before her eyes flashed wickedly. Lissa crossed her legs and twirled a piece of hair, looking up at me through her eyelashes. "Is it… maybe… that Max is…" she began in a hushed voice. "Scared? Is she too chicken to go over there?" Lissa mock gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. "Oh! I know! She's not confident enough that she won't be rejected!"

Low blow, Lissa, I thought. Hurting my pride. But I won't give in. "I'm not chicken," I said, trying to speak in a calm manner, and keep my left eye from twitching.

Laughing at me, Lissa drank a sip from her water bottle. "Sure, Max. Keep telling yourself that. I'll just prance myself over to the seat beside him and flirt my ass off. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

You wouldn't do that, I said inwardly, knowing it wasn't something she'd do. But sure enough, Lissa had already gotten off the seat and headed off towards Fang's table, swaying her hips for an extra emphasis, and to make me annoyed.

This doesn't bother you at all, right, Max? I told myself, shaking my head, and shoving my sandwich in my mouth. I chewed angrily, as I peeked behind my shoulder to see Lissa getting her flirt on, looking at me every so often. I glared at her, causing her to smirk, and Fang to turn around.

Quickly, I faced the other way, my cheeks a fiery red. You don't really even know the guy, Max! How is it possible you could like him?

Oh, but you do know him. He's your neighbor, remember? My subconscious countered. You watch him play with his little sister, Angel, from your bedroom window. And you baby-sit her, too, along with him. And hello? He's hot!

I clenched my teeth. Did I just imply to myself that I was a stalker? Risking another glance in Lissa and Fang's direction, I saw them extremely close together, their foreheads near touching. What happened to girl code, Lissa?

Fang turned his head, looking over in my direction again. He had an amused smirk on his face, matching Lissa's, and he winked at me again, before looking at Lissa. She leaned forward, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before she flounced her way back over to my table.

"He's hot," she sighed dreamily. "If I just listened to his voice I'd think he'd be hot, even if Fang was the ugliest man on the planet. Good God, how can someone look and sound that… sexy?"

I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "I have to go… do… um, something," I said, chucking my garbage in the bin. Stiffly — almost robotically — I marched away from the table and through the cafeteria entrance doors.

But not before looking at Fang one last time, feeling his intense gaze on my back as I walked out.

"Wishing you did as I said and made-out with him already?" Lissa asked, as we walked home from school. She didn't live on my street, but a couple down, so we walked home together.

I shook my head. "Nope," I replied, popping the 'p'.

Lissa rolled her eyes again. "His skin is really soft, you know. It's like baby-smooth, and I'm saying that from just kissing his cheek. I wonder what his lips would feel like…" she mused aloud.

My fists clenched, and my stomach dropped. Shut. Up. Lissa, I growled in my head. On the outside, however, I nod tightly. "Yeah. That'd be… cool."

She looked at me oddly, as I mentally face-palmed myself. That sounded cool? Seriously? "Yeah. Um so we're going on a date tonight!" Lissa said excitedly. "He's taking me to The Cheesecake Factory at eight!"

Again, I nodded, turning onto my street. "Bye, Lissa," I said. "Have… fun on your… date."

She waved goodbye, a big smile on her face.

I entered my house, almost seething. Lissa's one of your best friends, Max, I told myself. She's obviously happy with Fang, you'd be a horrible person and friend to do that!

But I couldn't shake off that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Snap out of it, Max," I muttered, walking up the stairs.

When I entered my room, I shut the door and collapsed on my bed. Why are you feeling this way? Sure, Fang's really attractive, but there's probably some guy out there that's cuter than him. How come you don't feel this way towards those guys?

I groaned. Feelings were not my subject of choice. I'd never make it as a psychiatrist.

Hearing a garage door open, I looked out the window, seeing Fang drive in to his driveway. He exited the car, and glanced up at my window. I dove under the windowsill as fast as I could, hoping he didn't catch me looking at him, my heart pounding erratically. What a disaster that would be.

But there was one thing stuck in my head. Why does he keep looking over at me, if he asked out Lissa?

With that thought in mind, I decided tonight, I would treat myself to some cheesecake at eight o'clock.

At precisely 7:30, Fang walked out onto his driveway and got into his car. I watched him put his hands on the steering wheel, a worried look on his olive face. What does he have to worry about? I thought grimly. Lissa's excited for their date.

Slowly, he looked towards my window with a knowing smirk, all signs of worry gone from his smooth face, and major signs of embarrassment on mine. Hmm, it does look really smooth… I wondered to myself what it would feel like.

Fang winked at me for the nth time that day, and then drove out, onto the road, turning towards the general direction of Lissa's house. I sighed sullenly, my cheeks still faintly pink.

When 7:45 came around, I yelled to Mom that I was going to Nudge's house. It was partially true, because she was going to make me look 'restaurant appropriate', since she refused to let me go without telling anyone, unless she dressed me up for it.

Besides. Nudge was my accomplice in this… mission, so to speak.

"Ooh, Max, you look so pretty!" Nudge squealed, lightly spraying my hair with something that smelled like Febreeze and something else. I turned around to look at myself in her full body mirror, a grin on my face.

I looked nothing like myself, with my loose t-shirts and jeans. Sure, I looked decent before, but now, I couldn't even tell it was myself. "You have outdone yourself, Nudge," I laughed, smiling.

With these sunglasses on, I would look as inconspicuous as I hope I would, when spying on Fang and Lissa. "And ladies and gentleman, this is how you look fashionably undercover," Nudge said in a reporters voice, miming talking into a microphone. "Max, what does it feel like to be in disguise?" she asked, holding back a laugh.

Grinning at her, I replied, "I'm undercover, remember? You don't know if my name is Max."

She rolled her caramel eyes and pulled me out the front door. "Buckle up, girly, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!" Nudge yelled.

We made it to The Cheesecake Factory around 8:15. A bit later than I had hoped, although it wasn't like Lissa and Fang were going to have a fifteen minute dinner. Luckily, Nudge and I managed to get a table fairly close to where Fang's black head of gorgeou — messy hair was peeking up above all the other heads at the restaurant.

The waitress seated us at our seats, and that's when I realized Lissa wasn't there. Didn't he go pick her up? Maybe she needed longer to get ready, and told him she'd meet him there… Or maybe, she's in the bathroom touching up on her make-up…

I turned around to tell Nudge that, but she was gone as well. Pulling out my phone, I texted her.

Where are you? ~Max

There was an immediate response.

Bathroom. Brb. ~Nudge

With a sigh, I slumped down in my seat, and began to read the menu, while looking up at Fang every so often. He seemed to be in deep thought, his jaw slightly clenched. Is he nervous? I scoffed to myself. Why should he be nervous? He's got Lissa here, and we all know she's overly excited about this date.

I rested my head in my hands, waiting for a server to stop by. A seat pulled out in front of me, and I sighed, knowing it was Nudge.

"Hey."

Okay, maybe it's not Nudge. My eyes widened and I got up slowly, curious and prepared to see who was sitting in front of me.

Fang?

"Yup, that's me," he chuckled dryly, half-smiling at me.

I blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Fang shot back, a smirk on his lips.

Rolling my eyes and taking off my sunglasses, I scoffed, "Well, I'm obviously looking for Liss —" Oops.

"Lissa?" he teased. "Because you knew I was going to be here with her?"

Skillfully, I changed the subject. "Where is she anyway?"

"I know you tried to change the direction of the topic, Max," Fang said playfully. "I never picked her up, actually."

I could feel my mouth drop open, and my eyes furrow. "Wait, so you ditched her?" Not cool, man. Lissa's my friend.

"No, silly. She's a smart girl, y'know," he added thoughtfully, looking at me with his dark, mysterious eyes. I opened my mouth to ask how, but Fang cut me off. "She was the one that planned all this…"

Oh. Wait. She planned this?

Fang nodded. "Yeah, didn't know you were the jealous-stalker-girl-type, Maxie," he winked. "I guess Lissa was right — I'll keep that in mind."

"Screw you, Fang," I muttered, embarrassed.

He grinned. "As you wish, milady."

I could feel a growl come up in my throat. "Jerk."

"Stalker," Fang shot back.

"Idiot."

"Jealous."

"You turd face!" I shouted, standing up out of my seat, and stomping out of the restaurant. I plopped myself on the sidewalk, wondering where the hell Nudge was. "Nudge?" I asked into the phone. "Where are you? I'm ditching this plan."

"Oh, I'm so so sorry, Max! I'm with Lissa, you see —" Nudge tried to explain.

I almost threw my phone into the sidewalk. "You were with this plan too?!" I screamed, feeling betrayed.

"I'm sorry! I don't even know Fang, but it's obvious you like him! It was for the best…"

"So how am I supposed to get home, now?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. "You drove me here, just to ditch me!" There was a mumbled, inaudible reply. "What?" I repeated.

"GetaridewithFang," Nudge blurted really fast.

Did I hear her right? "Excuse me?"

"Um, I said to get a ride with Fang!"

I groaned. "Are you serious? I'm not talking to that perverted, psycho —"

"Really hot!"

"— TURD FACE."

There was a silence on the other end. "Well, I guess you'll be walking home," Nudge sighed, hanging up.

"ARGH!" I cried, redialing her number, with no success. I raised my hand to slam my phone onto the ground, but a husky voiced stopped me.

"What'd the phone ever do to you?" I snapped my head to the side, to see Fang sitting there beside me on the sidewalk.

I ignored him, scooting away, and turning my head away from him. No. Do not ask him for a ride. You just walk home, Max.

But it's sofar, another part of me countered.

Yeah, but do you want to seem like some annoying brat?

"Max? I'm sorry…" Fang said. I crossed my arms, refusing to look at him. "Max, please."

I whirled around at him. "Wha —" Whoa. When did he get so close? I swear, our noses were almost touching — that's how close he was. My heart began to race, blood rushing to my face, as I inhaled the scent of Fang.

No, Max, be angry! I tried telling myself with no success. ANGRY MAX! Don't start going all soft, just because you feel like something could actually go on between you two!

Shut up! Another part of me yelled. He's gonna kiss her!

His hand reached up, pushing my hair to the side of my ear, caressing my face softly, before he dropped it, looking at the ground. For some reason, I wanted to take his hand and put it back on my cheek.

And for some reason, I did. Fang looked at me confused for a second, before he gave me a small smile. "Max," he began, staring into my eyes. "I can't even explain how much I like you —"

I put my hand on his, cutting him off. "Then don't."

We stared into each other's eyes, leaning closer and closer, millimeter-by-millimeter. My eyes fluttered shut at the last moment… and then he kissed me, bring me closer to him, by wrapping his arm around my waist.

My hands found their way to his hair, as he kissed me, tangling them in his soft locks.

After another minute or so, I pulled back, clearing my throat, and looking down with a blush on my cheeks.

"Will you give me the pleasure of being my girlfriend?" he asked, his voice even deeper and ragged, out of breath. With a grin, I pecked him on the lips. "… Is that a yes?"

I kissed him even deeper, nodding, and smiling against his lips.

And let me tell you, his lips were as soft as Lissa dreamed about.